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Report shows a slower 911 service in Minneapolis

It took Minneapolis 911, on average, 7.33 seconds to answer a call in 2012, up by over one second since 2009

A new report shows the city’s 911 service got slower in 2012.

It took Minneapolis 911, on average, 7.33 seconds to answer a call in 2012, up by over one second since 2009, when the average was 6.25 seconds.

The city has a goal of a 5.5-second average, which would allow it to meet the national benchmark of answering 90 percent of calls within 10 seconds.

It’s not just the time it takes to answer a call. The 911 service has also lagged in the time it takes to dispatch a police patrol on a “high priority call.” In 2012, it took, on average, 1 minute, 34 seconds to dispatch a patrol to a high priority call. In 2009, 911’s average was 1 minute, 15 seconds.

The report states that decreased staffing is to blame for the slower service. The city employed 78 full time equivalents in 2012, down from 84 in 2009.

“We also reduced minimum staffing levels to meet budget and decrease overtime. It was expected that without increase (sic) staffing, 911 would not be able to meet the target, and the 2012 measure reflects that,” the report states.

In December, City Council Member Betsy Hodges (Ward 13) shifted $110,000 from the Human Resources Department to pay for two more 911 operators in 2013.

She did so a couple months after the Accent Signage shooting revealed that people trying to report the incident hung up waiting for a 911 operator.